Parking signs lay out the rules along Avenida Del Mar in downtown San Clemente. ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

By the numbers

156: Number of parking spaces on Avenida Del Mar (curbside)

13: Number of 20-minute parking spaces on Avenida Del Mar (curbside)

6: Number of handicapped spaces on Avenida Del Mar (curbside)

11: Private lots on Avenida Cabrillo

12:Private lots on Avenida Granada

5:All-day parking lots

6:Three-hour parking lots

Area: Between El Camino Real and Calle Seville

Downtown San Clemente is bustling, but is all the new traffic helping or hurting business there?

Parking, a problem for business owners and visitors, is getting worse as summer approaches. Finding parking on Avenida Del Mar, El Camino Real and surrounding streets has grown irritating and difficult, residents and business owners say.

Jean Louis Denayer, owner of Nic's Vacuum & Small Appliances at 216 Avenida Del Mar, said business has dipped nearly 40 percent since the popular restaurant Nick's went in across the street. He says the increase in traffic means there are fewer parking spaces for his customers, who often bring in appliances and need to park in front of his store.

The city, residents and business owners seemingly agree there is a problem. How to solve it, however, is where opinions are divided.

Some say the city needs a parking structure and possibly meters to fund its construction. The city maintains that there is adequate parking but that many of the available spaces are on private lots and the city hasn't been successful in leasing spaces for public use at several of them.

WHY IT'S WORSE

San Clemente was once a sleepy town with not much traffic coming through downtown.

But that has changed, according to Michael Kaupp, president of the Downtown Business Association and a San Clemente resident for 34 years.

With a spike in entertainment and restaurant establishments, more people are visiting downtown and spending more time there.

Kaupp said new restaurants dramatically have increased the intensity of use, which has been detrimental to retail establishments whose customers would prefer to park in front of the stores instead of in a faraway lot.

Parking spaces on Avenida Del Mar, El Camino Real and nearby streets can be tough to find during peak hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to city Community Development Director Jim Holloway.

About 95 percent to 100 percent of the parking is usually full during that time.

"A lot of people who want to go downtown who can't find parking decide to go elsewhere," Kaupp said.

Longtime resident Nanci Mavar said she is affected both as a resident who likes to go downtown and as a commercial Realtor who tries to work with buyers who want to open a business downtown.

Because of the parking issues, many prospective business owners can't open a restaurant or an entertainment-based business because there isn't enough parking to fulfill city requirements for the number of spaces per square foot.

"I think downtown could be a lot more vibrant and more like some of our neighboring cities," Mavar said. But because parking essentially has limited the types of business that can go in, the area can't develop as rapidly, she said.

LEASING SPACES

The problem isn't the number of spaces, though, it's parking management, Holloway said.

He said the issue is solvable without adding spaces or building a new parking structure. Referring to a parking study, Holloway said that private lots in the area are about 60 percent full during peak hours but that many property owners are unwilling to lease spaces to the city for public parking.

"You can make the offer, but you can't make them talk to you," Holloway said.

The city currently leases spaces month-to-month from about a half-dozen property owners in the downtown area. "Why others have resisted is beyond my comprehension," he said.

Peter Hioureas, a downtown property owner whose land includes a lot on Avenida Cabrillo, said the city has approached him to lease some of the spaces. He said the spaces don't belong to him but rather to his tenants as part of their lease agreements.

"They need to have every single space they have," he said.

The city continues to look at leasing private spaces for public use, hoping holdouts will change their minds.

EYEING METERS

Kaupp and a growing number of business owners say parking meters are the first step toward fixing the problem.

San Clemente has free, unmetered parking downtown for a limited time. Other beach cities such as Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach have metered parking in their downtown areas to help manage massive amounts of traffic.

The obvious issue with meters is adapting the public to paid parking, Kaupp said.

Holloway said meters are not on the table right now.

BUILDING A GARAGE

Josie Rietkerk, the owner of two units on El Camino Real, said she is trying to lease out a space she owns next to StellaLucy Gluten-Free Market but can't lease it to a service or food business because there is not enough parking.

Sales at a store she no longer operates had dipped as available parking dropped, she said.

"The bottom line is we need a parking structure somewhere downtown," she said.

But there are many issues associated with a parking garage, including spacing, price and support.

Kaupp acknowledged a parking structure wouldn't be done without a fight, but he said other coastal cities have had to address parking issues even when possible solutions aren't popular.

Laguna Beach has been looking at building a 506-space structure costing $33 million to $55 million as part of its village entrance plan. It has been the subject of heavy debate.

In 2011, San Clemente's City Council decided not to spend money on investigating costs of a parking garage near the pier. There was significant outcry against a structure there.

Kaupp said that if the city and property owners come together, a structure could be built that fits with the city's Spanish Colonial style. But he said there has been no effort on the city's part to investigate a parking structure downtown.

Holloway said a garage also is not on the table.

OTHER AREAS

The parking situation isn't expected to get any better as summer arrives and more people head to San Clemente.

As downtown shifts from retail-heavy businesses to those that are more entertainment- and restaurant-oriented, parking will be among the most widely discussed issues.

The city continues to grapple with parking not only downtown but also in the North Beach area, where a debate over whether to add parking spaces has been heating up.

The city is looking at revitalizing North Beach, including the former Miramar Theater and bowling alley at North El Camino Real and Boca de la Playa. The City Council voted this month to invite proposals from design firms for additional parking near those vacant buildings.

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